Picara Baby Carriers

Sunday, June 04, 2006

So who's brilliant idea is it to shut down the Bay Bridge?

I had a Breastfeeding and Newborn Care class scheduled for Saturday. Sounds fun, big day in SF, teaching fun classes. Oh wait. Bay Bridge is getting redone and is sporadically closed down.

Options are to:
A: drive through San Mateo to SF. About 40 miles out of the way.
B: try the Bay Bridge, hope I make it to work on time.
C: go through Marin over the Golden Gate Bridge.
D: take BART from an East Bay station.

Smart option would have been D. Or even E, reschedule class.

Instead I went straight to the toll plaza, paid my $3 and thought, woohoo, no traffic. I got to Treasure Island and two CHP pulled out in front. They started doing that sweep across all the lanes, slowing and stopping traffic. So I'm now stopped on the western span of the Bay Bridge while they are doing demo work at the end. Oh Joy.
Then to my left I see a volvo wagon stop for the CHP block. And a sedan behind the volvo didn't stop. Smash, into the back of the Volvo. I've never seen a CHP officer get so pissed off. That just cracked me up, I mean how mad he got, not the accident. Looks like everyone was ok. So 20 minutes later I finally get off the bridge and up to work. An hour early.

Normal trip takes 2 hours. I left at 6:30.
Arrived at 8:40.
Only 20 minute delay.

Score:
Bridge-0
Me-1

The trip home:
The class was awesome, had a great group of students. Even a couple homebirths. Woohoo, parent power.
I dropped by Peasant Pies and picked up a 6 pie supply for the week.
I was in my car and driving by 4:00.
I thought, hmmm, my morning drive went well, let's try it again for the evening.
I got on 280 towards the Bay Bridge since KCBS said 101 was clogged from the interchange. Thought I'd be smart and cross over on city streets and hop on at the base of the bridge.
1.5 hours later I finally got onto the bridge.
1.5 hours later I was home. That's right, it took as much time to get onto the bridge as it did to drive 99 miles.

Score:
Bridge- 5 million (that was my annoyance level)
Me-1 (I had Peasant Pies to eat and Prairie Home Companion on radio)

I was home by 7:30, 13 hours after I left. Whew.

Today we're watching Mythbusters and hanging out on the couch.

2 Comments:

At 2:09 PM, June 04, 2006, Blogger Becky said...

Yuck! I think they need to build a few more ways into the city. LOL

 
At 12:06 PM, June 14, 2006, Blogger abqchunk said...

I used to live in the Bay area and I know about the bridges you are talking about! I left when I was 18 so I never really ventured across the bay except for BART. Anyway, it was fun reminiscing, and I'm so glad I don't live there anymore, but I still love my Giants, 49ers, and Warriors!

 

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